Our testing was performed on Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Business Edition. This is not a recommended option for users whom have older Macs with less than 4GB of RAM since Parallels puts more demand on the Mac’s processors and memory as both operating systems are running at the same time. This is a suitable option for users whom have newer Macs with more powerful hardware resources in terms of CPU, Memory and an Nvidia graphics card like a GeForce GT 750M. The advantage is that users can run both Windows and Mac applications without rebooting. Users must purchase the Parallels software to use this virtualization option. If Windows has already been installed on a Mac using Boot Camp, users can use Parallels to run the Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine within OS X. The recommended minimum hardware configuration for the windows partition running ArcGIS Pro is: Users should carefully consider how much CPU, Memory and hard disk will be available to the Windows OS, this is of course based upon how many cores and memory is available in the MacBook.

The Windows partition is configured during the Boot Camp install this is an important step for optimal performance. However, users may not prefer this option since they are not able to run both OS X and Windows at the same time and a reboot is required to gain access to the Mac software. Running Windows in Boot Camp is a native feature of the Mac OS X operating system, therefore this is the most financially affordable option since there is no additional software to be purchased. In general, the ArcGIS Pro system requirements should be considered best practices no matter if you are running ArcGIS Pro natively within a Windows environment or using the options available for a Mac: īoot Camp is a utility for Macs that allows users to install and run Windows within a separate bootable partition. In general we have found the UX of ArcGIS Pro in these environments is quite good.

The Performance Engineering team has begun testing ArcGIS Desktop, including ArcGIS Pro, on the Apple MacBook Pro in order to develop performance benchmarks and configuration recommendations. In order to assess which option to use, it is important to understand each option, their limitations, then to configure for best performance. The user can install Windows in Boot Camp, a native feature of the Apple Inc.’s OS X operating system, or they can use a virtualization program, such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion. ArcGIS for Desktop has been developed for Windows Operating systems, but there are many users out there running ArcGIS Desktop on Macs.

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